Was the Taiwan presidential election fair?

[9V-SMU]

Chen-Shui-Bian and Annette Lu won the Taiwan presidential election by only 27,000 votes or 0.23%, the closest election in Taiwan's history. Many events from the "shooting" last Friday to the vote counting last Saturday suggested cheating.

Currently, supporters of Lien Chan and James Soong, Chen's rivals, are protesting in front of the Presidential Palace, demanding a recount.

Do you think the election was fair?

[Airigami]

If you want to see an UNFAIR election, look no further than Russia!

(Or Florida, but that's another story.)

I did hear the allegations of irregularities in the Taiwanese elections, but given the attempted assassinations, I think the vote was skewed unnaturally towards the government anyway. Given the events of the 24 hours preceding the election, I would have been shocked had the government NOT won re-election.

(In the same way I think the Spanish election was unnaturally skewed to the opposition in the wake of the bombings last week).

[jiml1126]

at least Vladimir Putin didn't gpt shot the day before the election...

there' just too many questions from this untrustable taiwanese president.

If you want to see an UNFAIR election, look no further than Russia!

(Or Florida, but that's another story.)

I did hear the allegations of irregularities in the Taiwanese elections, but given the attempted assassinations, I think the vote was skewed unnaturally towards the government anyway. Given the events of the 24 hours preceding the election, I would have been shocked had the government NOT won re-election.

(In the same way I think the Spanish election was unnaturally skewed to the opposition in the wake of the bombings last week).

[A340_flyer]

I'm a little wary of President Chen. He won the 1999 elections on the basis of nationalism and a struggle for independence from China. Yet once elected all the pro-independence hype vanished only to reappear now. What is wrong with this guy? If you say something, DO IT!

Not that I'm for formal independence for Taiwan. In this day in age they need a giant like China economically and it'd be a very stupid move to anger them.

[Asian Brushstroke]

Oops, I accidentally clicked yes (I apparently thought the question was "unfair or not"). Anyway, another thing being debated heavily around here is the huge number of invalid votes (330,000+), which is also extremely suspicious. I even heard that the army and police force were not allowed to vote because of the heightened security!

[iceman]

I'm a little wary of President Chen. He won the 1999 elections on the basis of nationalism and a struggle for independence from China. Yet once elected all the pro-independence hype vanished only to reappear now. What is wrong with this guy? If you say something, DO IT!

Not that I'm for formal independence for Taiwan. In this day in age they need a giant like China economically and it'd be a very stupid move to anger them.

Just curious, why are you not for a formal independance of Taiwan?

[DAL767-400ER]

Was the Taiwan presidential election fair?

iceman wrote:

A340_flyer wrote:

I'm a little wary of President Chen. He won the 1999 elections on the basis of nationalism and a struggle for independence from China. Yet once elected all the pro-independence hype vanished only to reappear now. What is wrong with this guy? If you say something, DO IT!

Not that I'm for formal independence for Taiwan. In this day in age they need a giant like China economically and it'd be a very stupid move to anger them.

Just curious, why are you not for a formal independance of Taiwan?

I gotta ask the same question. Taiwan is a strong economical power by itself. China is only limiting Taiwan in their international tradings.

-Colin

[jiml1126]

The problem is, why is there a need to get indepent twice? Taiwan is already an independent state under "Republic of China", founded in 1911. Despite the location of its first independence was located at Mainland China.

Declaring Taiwan as an independent state is no different from containing old, dirty water in a new bottle.

Taiwan is not recognized politically under "Republic of China", and changing the name to "Taiwan" doesn't guarantee that Taiwan will be able to join the UN, WHO...etc. Taiwan will still get bullied by communist China, no matter what.

Look at Britain, official name is United Kingdom, but also known as Great Britain, or simply Britain. Did the British asked to change the "United Kingdom" title to "Great Britain" as the official title?

I'm a little wary of President Chen. He won the 1999 elections on the basis of nationalism and a struggle for independence from China. Yet once elected all the pro-independence hype vanished only to reappear now. What is wrong with this guy? If you say something, DO IT!

Not that I'm for formal independence for Taiwan. In this day in age they need a giant like China economically and it'd be a very stupid move to anger them.

Just curious, why are you not for a formal independance of Taiwan?

Regarding to the 330000 invalid votes, it has something to do with the group called "million invalid votes coalition". The coalition thinks both candidates are crappy and does not deserve to run for president.

But the real problem is, those invalid votes are counted as valid and goes for the president.

[A340_flyer]

I'm a little wary of President Chen. He won the 1999 elections on the basis of nationalism and a struggle for independence from China. Yet once elected all the pro-independence hype vanished only to reappear now. What is wrong with this guy? If you say something, DO IT!

Not that I'm for formal independence for Taiwan. In this day in age they need a giant like China economically and it'd be a very stupid move to anger them.

Just curious, why are you not for a formal independance of Taiwan?

Because they have full economic and political freedom from China. Taiwan elects Taiwanese leaders who conduct their domestic policies freely (provided that it doesn't attach China in any way). Taiwan and the mainland have strong economic ties with a lot of Taiwanese investment and trade with China. If Taiwan sought formal independence (which wouldn't be much different from the status quo) China could place embargoes on Taiwan hurting its economy. In this day in age Asian economies such as Taiwan and Hong Kong must work with China if they are to progress, not against China. With China's economic might, they could easily outdo Taiwan with their lower cost base.

[9V-SMU]

Anyway, another thing being debated heavily around here is the huge number of invalid votes (330,000+), which is also extremely suspicious. I even heard that the army and police force were not allowed to vote because of the heightened security!

The number of invalid votes is much more than anyone thought. It's highly possible that many of Lien's votes in Southern Taiwan were deliberately counted as invalid or even as Chen's votes.

The army personnal and police force in Northern Taiwan, where I live, weren't allowed, but those in Southern Taiwan were. This is extremely suspicious because most of the population in Northern Taiwan support the KMT, and those in Southern Taiwan support the DPP. Btw, my parents said that there were lots of policemen standing guard at the voting station.

[Asian Brushstroke]

Apart from the "million invalid votes" campaign, I also heard that the ballots in this election were pretty glossy; meaning that if you stamped one side (blue or green) and folded it immediately, the ink would get smudged on both sides. Since the ballots were symmetrical, it would be impossible to tell which candidate is being voted for. Apparently, the ruling party (DPP) told its supporters to blow the ink dry before folding the ballots, while the KMT didn't know the ink would smudge.

There really are too many suspicious circumstances surrounding this election.

By the way, who else thinks the DPP flag is really provocative?

[Asian Brushstroke]

This is extremely suspicious because most of the population in Northern Taiwan support the KMT, and those in Southern Taiwan support the DPP.

I had a mean thought when I first saw a map of Taiwan dividing its counties into blue or green - partition! :P